The present invention relates to a front structure of an automotive vehicle that comprises a hinge pillar, dash panel, suspension tower and front side frame.
Conventionally, the above-described front structure of an automotive vehicle is known as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-182633, for example. That is, as shown in FIG. 18, the front structure of an automotive vehicle comprises a pair of hinge pillars 91, 91 (only one illustrated in FIG. 18), a dash panel provided to interconnect the pair of hinge pillars 91, 91 so as to partition an engine room 92 from a vehicle compartment 93, a suspension tower 94 disposed in front of and away from the dash panel, and a front side frame 94 provided to extend in a vehicle longitudinal direction and connect to the suspension tower 94, a rear end of which bends downward and connects to a front portion of a floor frame. Herein, there is provided a gusset 99 as a support frame that is provided to extend obliquely upward and outward from a suspension-tower disposition portion 96 of the front side frame 95 along the suspension tower 94 and to connect to an apron upper member 98 in front of a front pillar 97. In FIG. 18, a reference numeral 1000 denotes a cowl, a reference numeral 1010 denotes a cowl reinforcement, a reference numeral 1020 denotes a bulkhead, and a reference numeral 1030 denotes a wheel arch.
In the above-described conventional structure, an impact load to be inputted to (act on) a vehicle body at a vehicle frontal crash may be transmitted, as shown by arrows illustrated with broken lines in FIG. 18, from the front side frame 95 to the gusset 99 via the suspension-tower disposition portion 96, and then outwardly in the vehicle width direction because of an attachment structure of the gusset 99, and finally to the front pillar 97 and the hinge pillar 91 via the apron upper member 98. Accordingly, a transmission efficiency of the impact load would not be superior.
Thus, the conventional front structure has a problem in that a forward deformation of a cabin due to the vehicle frontal crash could not be restrained properly.